In the Mammals book that my son and I are reading, we recently read a passage about the Binturong. The description left me wondering.. what in the world is this animal? A type of monkey???

So I thought I'd take the time to teach other people about this animal as well (and also doing some more research for my lad). :)

The Binturong is also known as the Bearcat. It's Latin name is Arctictis binturong. It is neither a bear nor cat, but rather a viverrid. A viverrid is small to medium sized mammal that lives only in the Old World countries. They include animals such as civets.

If you go to this site you'll be able to read a poem about them as well as see several pictures .. you just HAVE TO see a picture of a baby and did you know they smell like buttered popcorn?

These long bodies animals with a tail like a monkey, the body of bear and the face of a cat, are classified as vulnerable (generally due to habitat loss) and live in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. They are covered in long, shaggy black hair with stiff white whiskers on the cheeks and above the eyes.

Even though they are listed in the class Carnivora they predominately eat fruit, but they also will eat insects, earthworms, birds, fish, and small mammals. This shy animal stays up in the tree tops as much as possible, avoiding contact with other creatures. They are safest in areas where the tree cover is thickest. They are generally mild mannered but when threatened can be quite aggressive.

Interesting fact: they can reverse their ankles which facilitates their easily climbing up and down trees. They can also purr, grunt, hiss, wail and make various other noises to communicate. Other interesting fun facts can be read here.